Web desk(National Times)- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there had been \u201csignificant progress\u201d in long-running talks with Washington for a trade deal, according to a statement issued on Thursday after his meeting with United States President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian in France on Wednesday, their first face-to-face talks since February 2025 in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe leaders noted with particular satisfaction the significant progress made in negotiations towards an interim bilateral trade agreement\u201d, a readout of the meeting from India\u2019s foreign ministry read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked if the US and India are close to a trade deal, Trump told reporters in Evian that they were \u201cvery close\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very tough negotiator, one of the toughest, actually. So you look at this man, I\u2019ll give you a lesson,\u201d said the US president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s the most beautiful looking man. He looks so nice. He\u2019s like an angel, but actually he\u2019s a killer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indian statement said the leaders had ordered officials to work towards striking a \u201ccommercially meaningful agreement at the earliest\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will visit India next week for the latest round of talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington and New Delhi have set a target of boosting bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030, holding multiple rounds of negotiations in a bid to resolve market access and tariff disputes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two countries reached an initial understanding for the trade deal in February, but negotiations slowed after Trump\u2019s sweeping tariff measures were struck down by the US Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the court order, the Trump administration launched investigations into unfair trade practices against several countries, including India, while imposing a blanket 10 per cent tariff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
India\u2019s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in early June that the countries were \u201cabout 99pc\u201d done with the first tranche of a trade deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi also urged Trump to ensure the safety of Indian seafarers as part of the implementation of an Iran-US deal aimed at ending the Middle East war, after three Indian sailors were killed in a US strike on a commercial vessel off Oman on June 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South Asian nation has been hard hit by the Middle East conflict, as energy supplies were throttled by Iran\u2019s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil and gas transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Modi on Wednesday warned that the impact of the war would take time to resolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe disruptions in fuel, fertiliser and food supply chains caused by the crisis \u2026 will continue to impact the Global South for a considerable period,\u201d he said, according to a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Web desk(National Times)- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there had been \u201csignificant progress\u201d in long-running talks with Washington for a trade deal, according to a statement issued on Thursday after his meeting with United States President Donald Trump. The leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Evian in France on Wednesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n